Congressman Jim Cooper - Representing the 5th District of Tennesseehttps://cooper.house.gov/rss.xml
enCooper Statement on Announcement by Sen. Lamar Alexanderhttps://cooper.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/cooper-statement-on-announcement-by-sen-lamar-alexander
<p><strong>WASHINGTON </strong>– U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (TN-05) today issued the following statement after U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander said he would not seek re-election in 2020:</p>
<p>“Lamar is finishing a stellar career in Tennessee politics,” <strong>Rep. Cooper said.</strong> “I honor him for his service, but I also hope he will use his last two years in office to challenge President Trump the way that Bob Corker has done. I am worried that the Tennessee Republican Party is losing the legacy of Howard Baker: his willingness to investigate his own president, to insist on fiscal discipline, open markets, and civil rights. America needs that fair-mindedness now more than ever.”</p>Mon, 17 Dec 2018 00:00:00 -050097https://cooper.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/cooper-statement-on-announcement-by-sen-lamar-alexanderCooper Statement on President George H.W. Bushhttps://cooper.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/cooper-statement-on-president-george-hw-bush
<p><strong>WASHINGTON </strong>– U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (TN-05) today issued the following statement.</p>
<p>“President George H.W. Bush embodied a bygone American era of civility, respect and bipartisanship,” <strong>Rep. Cooper said. </strong>“The leader of a patriotic family, he was a war hero, CIA director, honorable commander-in-chief, and the proud father of a fellow President and a governor. No President is perfect, but it’s certain we’ve lost a national hero. President Bush and his beloved Barbara are deeply missed.”</p>Sat, 01 Dec 2018 00:00:00 -050097https://cooper.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/cooper-statement-on-president-george-hw-bushCooper Urges Tennesseans to Sign Up for Health Insurancehttps://cooper.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/cooper-urges-tennesseans-to-sign-up-for-health-insurance
<p><strong>WASHINGTON </strong>– U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (TN-05) today encouraged Tennesseans to evaluate their health insurance options, including some that are newly available to Volunteer State residents, before choosing an Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace plan that best fits their needs.</p>
<p>Today is the first day to enroll in ACA Marketplace coverage plans at <a href="https://www.healthcare.gov/" target="_blank">Healthcare.gov</a> between now and Dec. 15. The plans will cover consumers for calendar year 2019.</p>
<p>Most Tennesseans will <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2018/08/22/tennessee-obamacare-cheaper-bluecross-celtic-insurance-memphis/1063969002/" target="_blank">have more insurance choices at a lower cost</a>. Benchmark premiums across Tennessee are dropping an average of 26.2 percent, the largest decrease in the country. Nashville will have a new insurer offering coverage, Bright Health, as well as continued options from Cigna and Oscar Health. </p>
<p>“It’s never been easier for Middle Tennesseans to sign up for health insurance!” <strong>Rep. Cooper said. </strong>“All the new and expanded options show the Affordable Care Act is working. Tennesseans have six weeks to choose the best plan for them.”</p>
<p>More than 229,000 Tennesseans selected ACA plans during the most recent sign-up time despite the Trump administration shortening the open enrollment period by several weeks. A recent study also found that <a href="https://www.kff.org/health-reform/press-release/2019-premiums-for-aca-silver-plans-will-be-16-percent-higher-than-they-would-have-been-absent-the-repeal-of-the-individual-mandate-expansion-of-short-term-plans-and-loss-of-federal-cost-sharing-payme/" target="_blank">Marketplace premiums are 16 percent higher</a> than they would be absent some administration actions, including repealing the individual mandate and expanding short-term “junk” plans.</p>
<p>Despite the success of the individual market, many Tennesseans still struggle to gain access to affordable coverage. Tennessee has still failed to expand Medicaid, which would cover more than 250,000 Tennesseans and reduce premiums even further for those shopping on the individual market. Meanwhile, researchers at the University of Tennessee <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2018/10/30/ut-study-another-43-000-tennesseans-now-uninsured/1813170002/?utm_source=tennessean-Business&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=baseline&amp;utm_term=hero" target="_blank">recently found that the statewide rate of uninsured Tennesseans has increased about 10 percent in the last year</a>, leaving a total of about 450,000 residents without any form of health insurance.</p>
<p>Tennesseans can shop for plans at <a href="https://www.healthcare.gov/" target="_blank">Healthcare.gov</a> or by calling 1-800-318-2596.</p>Thu, 01 Nov 2018 00:00:00 -040097https://cooper.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/cooper-urges-tennesseans-to-sign-up-for-health-insuranceCooper Applauds Congressional Passage of the Music Modernization Acthttps://cooper.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/cooper-applauds-congressional-passage-of-the-music-modernization-act
<p><strong>WASHINGTON </strong>– U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (TN-05) today applauded congressional passage of the Music Modernization Act, a bill that promotes fairness in an essential Nashville industry. The House this week passed the Senate’s version of the legislation.</p>
<p>President Trump’s signature will make the landmark bill the law of the land.</p>
<p>“Congress has finally listened to the music industry,” <strong>Rep. Cooper said. </strong>“I hope the President signs our bill into law quickly so our songwriters get better pay for their work. This bill is great news for Music City.”</p>
<p>Rep. Cooper was an original cosponsor of the Music Modernization Act, legislation that creates a blanket licensing system and spurs other major changes. The bill is set to promote public consumption of licensed music, increase royalties paid out to rights holders, and lead to licensing efficiencies.</p>Wed, 26 Sep 2018 00:00:00 -040097https://cooper.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/cooper-applauds-congressional-passage-of-the-music-modernization-actBipartisan Cooper-Sanford Bill Would Give Congress Authority to Weigh Tariffshttps://cooper.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/bipartisan-cooper-sanford-bill-would-give-congress-authority-to-weigh
<p><strong>WASHINGTON </strong>– U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (TN-05) and U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford (SC-01) today introduced the Promoting Responsible and Free Trade Act, a bipartisan bill that would give Congress a stronger role in implementing trade policy and scrutinizing unnecessary tariffs.</p>
<p>The president currently possesses unilateral authority to impose any tariff under Sections 201, 301 and 232. Before a tariff is imposed, however, the Commerce Department, International Trade Commission (ITC) or U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) must issue a report on the proposed tariff’s justification and potential effects. But Congress doesn’t have an official say in the matter, and the president is able to impose a tariff without any congressional approval or oversight.</p>
<p>The new Cooper-Sanford bill would give Congress the authority to debate and accept or reject any such tariffs before they are imposed.</p>
<p>“Our bipartisan bill gives Congress the authority to weigh in on tariffs before they are implemented,” <strong>Rep. Cooper said</strong>. “No President should have unlimited powers, especially when those powers are hurting innocent farmers and businesses.”</p>
<p>“Although the power to impose tariffs is one our Constitution explicitly grants to Congress, modern history is filled with examples of the executive branch imposing tariffs without Congress’s approval...or even a congressional debate,” <strong>Rep. Sanford said.</strong> “Our Founding Fathers were deliberate in setting up a system of checks and balances, and regardless of your views on the global trading system, the underlying balance of powers should be respected. Given recent events, I think Congress needs to reclaim its seat at the table, and this bill is a simple and effective way to give Congress a more proactive role in trade policy.”</p>
<p>Here is how each type of tariff would be affected by the new bill:</p>
<ul><li><em><u>Section 201</u></em>: The ITC would be required to send its report to Congress for a maximum review period of 60 days. Congress would then be given the power to pass a joint resolution of disapproval within the 60-day window to stop the tariff’s implementation.</li>
<li><em><u>Section 301</u></em>: The USTR would be required to send its report to Congress for a maximum review period of 60 days. Congress would then be given the power to pass a joint resolution of disapproval within the 60-day window to stop the tariff from being implemented.</li>
<li><em><u>Section 232</u></em>: The Department of Defense and the Department of Commerce would be required to send a report that reviews any national security implications and tariff recommendations to Congress for approval.</li>
<li>The Defense Department would be required to submit its report on national security implications to the president.</li>
<li>If the president determines a tariff is necessary, the Commerce Department would be required to send a report to Congress on tariff-level recommendations.</li>
<li>Congress will have a maximum of 60 days to approve the tariff report. If approved, the tariff report will go to the president for final approval and implementation.</li>
<li>There is a two-year retroactivity period for Section 232 tariffs due to national security implications. This allows Congress to review any existing Section 232 tariffs.</li>
</ul><p>The text of the bill <a href="https://sanford.house.gov/sites/sanford.house.gov/files/SANFOR_102_xml.pdf" target="_blank">can be viewed here</a>.</p>Wed, 26 Sep 2018 00:00:00 -040097https://cooper.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/bipartisan-cooper-sanford-bill-would-give-congress-authority-to-weighCooper Applauds End to Trump Newspaper Tariffhttps://cooper.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/cooper-applauds-end-to-trump-newspaper-tariff
<p><strong>WASHINGTON </strong>– Weeks after fighting for such an outcome, U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (TN-05) celebrated the end of President Trump’s Commerce Department tariff on a chief component of newsprint, heralding a big win for local and national media organizations that rely on the printed page.</p>
<p>"This is an awesome week for American journalism,” <strong>Rep. Cooper said</strong>. “Newspapers are important defenders of democracy. Thank goodness the threat of newspaper tariffs is over.”</p>
<p>Rep. Cooper joined several members of the House and Senate in <a href="/media-center/press-releases/cooper-fights-for-newspapers-denounces-newsprint-tariff">publicly opposing the tariffs earlier this summer</a> at a July 17 hearing of the U.S. International Trade Commission. Rep. Cooper’s full testimony to the commission is below.</p>
<p>First announced in January, increased in March and overturned this week after a unanimous vote by the commission, the tariff – some as high as 20% – affected newspapers large and small. This week’s vote means the tariff will be stopped.</p>
<p>Newsprint is the paper on which newspapers and retail inserts are printed, and uncoated groundwood paper is a key component of the final product.</p>
<p>Just five U.S. paper mills produce such paper. Meanwhile, Canada produces about 60 percent of all newsprint paper in the world. The U.S. imported more than $1 billion of uncoated groundwood paper in 2016.</p>
<p>Tennessee newspapers are delivered to more than 1 million households each week.</p>
<p>Supplementing Rep. Cooper’s testimony, three Tennessee newspapers – <em>The Manchester Times</em>, <em>The Tullahoma News</em> and Morristown’s <em>Citizen Tribune</em> – submitted letters for the record, stating the negative effects of the tariff. <em><a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/opinion/2018/07/13/newspaper-tax-editorial-tennessean-david-plazas/771826002/">The Tennessean also editorialized</a></em> on the tariff, imploring the Commerce Department to stop the “job-killing tax on newspapers.”</p>
<p class="align-center"><strong>U.S. International Trade Commission<br />
Testimony of Rep. Jim Cooper (TN-05)<br />
Hearing: Uncoated Groundwood Paper (INV701-TA-584 &amp; 731-TA-1382)<br />
July 17, 2018</strong></p>
<p>Thank you, Chairman Johanson and Commissioners, for convening this important hearing to address the adverse effects of the duty on uncoated groundwood paper from Canada.</p>
<p>As you well know, uncoated groundwood paper is primarily used to make newsprint, the paper on which newspapers and retail inserts are printed. According to the Department of Commerce, the United States imported over $1 billion of uncoated groundwood paper from Canada in 2016. We have to import; we have no choice. Canada produces about 60% of all newsprint paper in the world and few U.S. paper mills actually produce this kind of paper. Five, to be exact. On their best day, those five mills are not going to produce enough newsprint at a low enough cost to cover the circulation of America’s biggest newspapers. It’s no surprise that American newspapers and printing companies import most newsprint paper from Canada.</p>
<p>This investigation started with one company, but the practical effects of this shortsighted tariff are already dramatic. Paper is already the second-largest expense for any newspaper, behind labor. To make up for the increased cost of importing paper, newspapers across the country are cutting pages, decreasing circulation and eliminating jobs. Newspapers and printing companies are not suddenly going to start buying newsprint from American producers. They aren’t buying from them now for several reasons: there are too few, it is too expensive, and there just simply isn’t enough supply to keep up with demand.</p>
<p>This tariff on newsprint and the ultimate decision on uncoated groundwood paper will hurt rural and local papers the most. Big papers like <em>The Wall Street Journal </em>will initially cut pages, but local papers like <em>The Dickson Herald</em> could cut jobs and even close their doors. A small increase of 2 cents more per paper per day may not sound like much, but it has a big effect. It will add over $8 million in annual expenses for <em>The Wall Street Journal</em>. Newspapers provide the best source of news information around. Tennessee newspapers are delivered to over 1 million households each week. Less news will lead to an increasingly distant and ill-informed American citizen; it will make them more likely to make an ill-informed choice at the ballot box, or perhaps not even vote at all. In times like these, that is something this country cannot afford.</p>
<p>Even before this uncoated groundwood paper investigation was initiated, the paper and newspaper industries were already declining. While many of us would like to believe that most Americans read the news each day, it is simply not the case. Subscriptions and circulations are down and continue to drop. While <em>The New York Times</em> can reach many of its readers through online content, rural Tennesseans rely on their printed local papers for the news that directly affects them. The decline in demand for newsprint and other paper is due to the decline of readership of newspapers, not imports from Canada.</p>
<p>Even with this decline in readership, the American printing and newspaper industries employ over 600,000 people. One company filed a complaint to initiate this investigation and now we are headed down a rabbit hole. Newsprint prices have already increased by about 30% since the start of the year. We have around 150 newspapers in circulation in Tennessee, 20% of which are printed daily. What does that mean for those papers? Right now, it means a hiring freeze and fewer pages dedicated to the actual news until the tariff is either eliminated or becomes final. I am proud that the main newspaper for the state, <em>The Tennessean</em>, is produced in my district. But <em>The Tennessean</em> and local papers alike cannot afford this unforeseen and unnecessary financial burden. <em>The Manchester Times</em> in Manchester, Tenn., will pay an additional $40,000 over the next year because of the increased price of newsprint. <em>The Tullahoma News</em> will pay $50,000. That is not sustainable. I would like to submit three letters for the record from local papers in Tennessee stating the effects of this tariff and describing their grim futures.</p>
<p>Newspapers make their profit in print because of retail inserts. There is very little profit to be made when readers are all online. Quad Graphics produces retail inserts for magazines and newspapers and has a plant in Nashville that employs about 200 people. That plant consumes over 52,000 tons of newsprint each year. With the tariff, the Nashville plant alone will see its paper expenses increase by almost $8 million per year. There is no chance of this company being able to keep up its same production levels with the same employee base. It’s impossible. Those additional expenses will be passed along to customers.</p>
<p>I appreciate the USITC’s investigation into the dumping of uncoated groundwood paper into the American market. But only one of the five newsprint-producing paper mills in the United States filed this complaint. That is telling. The damage this tariff will do to the newspaper and printing industries will be catastrophic. This knowledge should far outweigh one stakeholder’s concern of subsidized paper imports from Canada. America’s trade laws should protect the whole, not endanger the few. This administration’s approach to trade is cavalier and ill-informed. I cannot sit by and watch this country’s news industry be destroyed by federal overreach. I hope the USITC will stand with me in protecting American jobs and its news.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>Fri, 31 Aug 2018 00:00:00 -0400121https://cooper.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/cooper-applauds-end-to-trump-newspaper-tariffCooper Statement on Space, Satellites and Securityhttps://cooper.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/cooper-statement-on-space-satellites-and-security
<p>WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (TN-05) issued the following statement after Vice President Pence's Aug. 9 speech at the Pentagon.</p>
<p><strong>Origin of the “Space Force” Idea</strong></p>
<p>I am embarrassed by the politicization, polarization, and even commercialization of the idea of strengthening U.S. military capabilities in space.</p>
<p>The Aug. 9, 2018, speech by Vice President Pence at the Pentagon—a speech that I was invited to attend but did not—looked like it was boosting national defense, but may have harmed it. The vice president mentioned four people by name in the speech, including me, to demonstrate the bipartisan nature of strengthening U.S. space capabilities, but the administration is handling the issue so clumsily that it risks becoming a laughingstock.</p>
<p>Even worse, the campaign arm of the Trump administration has suggested selling merchandise with the logo of the Space Force on it in order to help finance President Trump’s re-election campaign. This makes efforts to strengthen U.S. space capabilities look like a partisan joke, further strengthening the hands of America’s rivals.</p>
<p><strong>Origins</strong></p>
<p>Our satellites were safe until about 11 years ago, when China successfully attacked one of its own weather satellites. That test proved that China could destroy many satellites, as well as create a debris field that threatens everything in orbit. Nations like Russia have also taken aggressive actions in space. These nations aren’t our friends. An adversarial attack in space could cripple satellites before we knew what hit us. Without satellites, cell phones wouldn’t work, our banking systems would crash, planes could not fly, and electrical sockets would go dead. It would crush our economy and paralyze our military.</p>
<p>At the end of 2016, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) and I began pushing the idea of giving our military space professionals more support and flexibility so that they could better meet the national security challenges that America has been facing. Since most of these space professionals are in the Air Force, our natural conclusion was that the Air Force was not doing enough to help them and to ensure our readiness in space.</p>
<p>Mike and I are the chairman and ranking member of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, so it is our job to request the briefings and to lead the hearings of the subcommittee. Our jurisdiction includes nuclear weapons and military satellites. We knew that the Chinese and Russians had been taking steps for many years to militarize space, to threaten U.S. and world satellites that are largely defenseless, and to be able to disrupt every type of satellite activity on which the world’s business, entertainment, and defense structures completely depend. We also knew that the U.S. response was extremely slow, ridden with cost-overruns, and increasingly behind the technical curve, leaving us increasingly exposed to new threats.</p>
<p>After months of discussing these problems with top Air Force personnel, with the other services, and with outside experts, we decided that creation of a “Space Corps” would be appropriate <em>within</em> the Air Force. The Marine Corps has long held a similar position within the Department of the Navy. This proposal would have given the secretary of the Air Force and other Air Force leadership <em>more</em> authority to streamline the acquisition process for new satellites, to improve morale and expertise of space specialists in the Air Force, and to gradually start the process of evolving space from the Air Force over many years. We specifically directed that <em>no new military bases, academies, uniforms or unnecessary overhead were required</em>. We preferred that the Air Force reallocate existing resources to strengthen its space capabilities and increase its organizational focus to address rapidly emerging threats.</p>
<p>Since our proposal was launched, it has gone through two years of full committee markups and two years of floor passage of two National Defense Authorization Acts, with overwhelming—sometimes even unanimous--support. Each year, Senate conferees have tried to trim back our proposals with some success. In response, we urge our Senate colleagues to attend the secret Pentagon briefings that will help them understand the urgency of our security challenges. Space is already a war-fighting domain. Pretending that our satellites are safe today would be foolish. </p>
<p>Despite Senate misgivings, the strong bipartisan nature of the House’s support for the idea has resulted in fundamental changes in the Air Force treatment of space, and in the writing of the latest Pentagon report on space which prompted the vice president’s speech.</p>
<p><strong>Trump’s Intervention</strong></p>
<p>President Trump has gone off-script on several occasions in 2018 to strongly support a “Space Force,” an entirely separate military service devoted to space. He has publicly and abruptly demanded that General Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, get the Pentagon to push the new service. The president has provided no detail to his thinking; only that it is the latest shiny object to capture his attention.</p>
<p>Vice President Pence’s recent speech is the formal kickoff of the process of creating a new service (the first since 1947), which he demanded should end with the creation of a Space Force by 2020. Vice President Pence’s speech was in response to a congressionally mandated report on Pentagon recommendations for strengthening America’s space capabilities.</p>
<p>The vice president’s remarks go beyond what the Pentagon had recommended in the report. Now there is talk of billions in new spending, new uniforms, and the vast overhead that goes with an entirely new service. Already, the idea of streamlining space acquisition and performance looks like it is getting bogged down in overhead and bureaucracy.</p>
<p><strong>My Reaction</strong></p>
<p>At first, I was optimistic that President Trump was supporting our hard-fought and timely congressional initiative to strengthen our capabilities to defend our vital space assets, thinking that his support might wear down some of the opposition to reform both in the Senate and in the Air Force. To use a country phrase, “why look a gift horse in the mouth?”</p>
<p>But the administration’s mishandling of the idea by allowing it to become a political fundraising tool, a jingoistic partisan rallying cry, an exaggerated caricature of a new service, and a rhetorical scourge of our brave men and women in uniform, just goes too far and will not help the cause.</p>
<p>America urgently needs better satellite capability and better defenses in space against real threats, but the administration’s stridently political approach undermines that goal. We need serious conversation, not e-mails from political campaigns to vote on a logo or a patch<strong>.</strong></p>Fri, 10 Aug 2018 00:00:00 -0400118https://cooper.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/cooper-statement-on-space-satellites-and-securityOp-Ed: What is a tariff? It&#039;s government&#039;s dirty, stupid secret.https://cooper.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/op-ed-what-is-a-tariff-its-governments-dirty-stupid-secret
<p>“Tariff” is an ugly word. It’s not a cuss word or an insult, but it’s a government word, used mainly in capitols and legislatures.</p>
<p>If someone “puts a tariff on you,” it sounds like a hex. Fortunately, only presidents or Congress can impose tariffs. Think of tariffs as Washington voodoo.</p>
<p>A tariff is not a hex but a tax — or series of taxes — on what other nations try to sell to us. Politicians are not brave enough to call them tax hikes, but they are.</p>
<p>Tariffs are painful, like needle pricks. Naturally, foreign leaders want to fight back by sticking us with their own tariffs. This quickly leads to tariff wars that can spread like wildfire.</p>
<p>Tariffs are popular at first. We get lots of money from the tariffs that other countries pay. Why not take the money?</p>
<p>Also, we can benefit when the prices of imports rise by the amount of the tariff. American-made products look cheaper, so our sales increase. It’s fun hiding behind tariff walls.</p>
<p>ariffs seem good, so why not solve all of our problems that way? Developing nations are tempted to do just that. Advanced nations learned not to, however.</p>
<p>About 80 years ago (with the Smoot-Hawley tariffs), Americans realized that tariffs backfired, making the Great Depression worse. Tariffs start a race to the bottom, not the top.</p>
<p><strong>How tariffs start a race to the bottom</strong><br />
First, Americans usually end up paying the tariffs because we can’t wean ourselves from imports. Tariffs end up taxing us, not foreigners. We pay the bill. Tariffs are boomerangs.</p>
<p>Second, businesses hiding behind tariff walls often conceal other things like inferior quality, low productivity, or waste. They rarely pass along their new profits to their workers.</p>
<p>Most important, tariffs are like drinking hard liquor. You are never as smart or good-looking as tariffs make you feel. You are just getting high, hungover, and hooked. Some people can hold their liquor, but people who brag about doing that are drunks.</p>
<p>Today’s tariff talk from the Trump Administration has already spread from eight tariffs to 20,000. Meanwhile, the world is retaliating. China, a notorious cheater on trade deals, is brazenly trying to reverse roles and replace traditional U.S. leadership in the world by reducing tariff barriers for its friends.</p>
<p><strong>Democrats and Republicans are criticizing the president's policies</strong><br />
The Tennessee Farm Bureau and other Tennessee businesses know the value of low- or no-tariff trade. Virtually every Tennessee elected official, Democrat and Republican, is criticizing the Trump Administration’s belligerence on tariffs. Virtually every economist, liberal or conservative, agrees that tariffs are bad for America.</p>
<p>U.S. Sen. Bob Corker has been particularly critical of President Trump for taking power from Congress when he claims that he can unilaterally put a tariff on other countries for “national security.” President Trump’s tariffs are not about our security but his own personal insecurity.</p>
<p>The architect of President Trump’s tax cut legislation, Gary Cohn, says that Trump’s tariffs are already offsetting the benefits of the tax cuts. What the government gave with one hand, it is taking with the other. The Chairman of the Federal Reserve says that tariffs are already slowing the growth of our entire economy.</p>
<p>Tennessee is a world center of the automobile industry. Tariffs are expected to raise the cost of each car by $5,800. Our whiskey industry is specifically being targeted for retaliation by nations that want to send a message to Sen. Mitch McConnell from Kentucky. It’s hard to find one of our industries that will not be adversely affected by tariffs.</p>
<p>Let’s come to our senses and stop this madness before it gets out of control. Tariffs are bad news. They are not only ugly but stupid.</p>
<p><i>Op-Ed appeared in the <a href="http://www.tennessean.com/story/opinion/2018/07/26/donald-trumps-tariffs-wrong-and-not-national-security/828738002/">Tennessean on July 26, 2018</a>. </i></p>Thu, 26 Jul 2018 15:15:04 -0400121https://cooper.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/op-ed-what-is-a-tariff-its-governments-dirty-stupid-secretCooper Will Continue Working Toward “Establishment of a True Space Corps”https://cooper.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/funding-of-the-violence-against-women-act-victims-of-crime-act-family
<p><strong>WASHINGTON – </strong>U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (TN-05), one of two Tennessee representatives serving on the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), today spoke on the House Floor and pledged his support for the National Defense Authorization Act. During his remarks, he vowed to continue working toward “the establishment of a true Space Corps or Space Force.”</p>
<p>Rep. Cooper is Ranking Member of HASC’s Strategic Forces Subcommittee, which oversees America’s nuclear weapons, ballistic missile defense, national security space programs, and Department of Energy national security programs.</p>
<p>A video of Rep. Cooper’s floor speech can be found <strong><a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.c-2Dspan.org_video_-3Fc4742222_cooper-2Dcontinue-2Dworking-2Destablishment-2Dtrue-2Dspace-2Dcorps&amp;d=DwMBaQ&amp;c=L93KkjKsAC98uTvC4KvQDTmmq1mJ2vMPtzuTpFgX8gY&amp;r=2h5XTSU7aoMJqJB2_9Syc3KQfIDJXa1DPiD3Jux4z-g&amp;m=BRJmchi99T649aciJrqTjDS86YoZKIf6oKPgcT66H24&amp;s=YRASZJIa9lsBW28sLO8yDvqXZ47YJZty2_ncd3HvmWs&amp;e=">HERE</a></strong> and a transcript of his remarks is below.</p>
<p><em>I would like to thank all members of the conference committee for their record-breaking work on this National Defense Authorization Act. This bill supports national security, so I am pleased to support the bill. </em></p>
<p><em>I particularly would like to thank my good friend Chairman Rogers for his bipartisan leadership of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee. </em></p>
<p><em>In addition to authorizing core missions of our nuclear forces to provide a strong deterrent, this defense authorization bill:</em></p>
<ul><li><em>Mandates an independent study on increasing the decision time before the President can use nuclear weapons, </em></li>
<li><em> Allows negotiations for extending the New START Treaty to maintain binding limits on the number of strategic nuclear weapons that Russia can deploy, </em></li>
<li><em> Drops a provision that would have all but separated the Nuclear Security Administration from the Department of Energy in direct contradiction of expert recommendations, and </em></li>
<li><em> Allows the Department of Energy to continue terminating the failed and unaffordable MOX boondoggle. </em></li>
</ul><p><em>The bill supports effective missile defense efforts, including pressing for near-term solutions such as boost-phase missile defense using kinetic interceptors. It increases accountability for the acquisition of expensive interceptors. And, of course, we support US-Israeli missile defense.</em></p>
<p><em>Finally, I strongly commend Chairman Rogers’s leadership in strengthening our ability to defend our assets in space against increasing threats. This bill creates a sub-unified command for space; continues oversight of warfighting readiness; presses for more rapid and agile acquisition processes; and mandates a plan for improving our space capabilities. I look forward to continuing to work with Chairman Rogers and others toward the establishment of a true Space Corps or Space Force. </em></p>
<p><em>Thank you again and I urge support for this bill.</em></p>Thu, 26 Jul 2018 00:00:00 -0400121https://cooper.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/funding-of-the-violence-against-women-act-victims-of-crime-act-familyCooper Invites Student Submissions for Congressional App Challengehttps://cooper.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/cooper-invites-student-submissions-for-congressional-app-challenge
<p align="center"><em>All Middle &amp; High School Students in Middle Tennessee Eligible to Participate</em></p>
<p><br /><strong>WASHINGTON </strong>– U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (TN-05) today invited eligible Middle Tennessee students to submit their work for consideration in this year’s nationwide Congressional App Challenge.</p>
<p>The Congressional App Challenge is an annual effort to encourage students to learn computer programming through annual district-wide competitions hosted by members of Congress. It encourages student participation in technology and math programs by offering students a chance to create and code.</p>
<p>All middle and high school students in Middle Tennessee are eligible and encouraged to participate.</p>
<p>“Brilliant students are turning Middle Tennessee into America’s next tech hub,” <strong>Rep. Cooper said. </strong>“Every time I visit a school I’m amazed at the skills I see. Let’s show the world our expertise!”</p>
<p>Last year, Delia Batdorff, a student at RePublic High School in Nashville, <a href="/media-center/press-releases/cooper-congratulates-congressional-app-challenge-winner-delia-batdorff">won the competition in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District</a>, which Rep. Cooper represents. The district is comprised of Cheatham, Davidson and Dickson counties. <a href="http://www.congressionalappchallenge.us/news/2017-trigonometry-app-tennessee/">Delia’s work was showcased in Washington</a>.</p>
<p>For this year’s competition, <a href="http://www.congressionalappchallenge.us/">online registration</a> closes on Oct. 15. Students who register before Sept. 10 qualify for early incentives, and winners will be announced in December.</p>
<p>For complete details on the Congressional App Challenge, <a href="http://www.congressionalappchallenge.us/" target="_blank">please click here</a>.</p>Thu, 19 Jul 2018 15:38:27 -0400111https://cooper.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/cooper-invites-student-submissions-for-congressional-app-challenge